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Under the FLSA, when must nonexempt employees be paid for travel time?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations require employers to pay for travel time in some circumstances. Generally, time spent traveling is compensable, unless it is normal home-to-work commute time, or when travel requires an overnight stay and the time spent traveling as a passenger falls outside of the employee's normal work hours.

When pay is required, the time spent traveling is considered hours worked and must be included when determining overtime pay obligations. 

Home-to-work travel. Normal commuting time to an employee's regular worksite is not treated as hours worked under the FLSA.

Home to work on a special one-day assignment in another city . When an employee must travel out of town for work but returns home the same day, all the time spent traveling during the day is compensable, regardless of the employee's regular work hours. However, an employer may deduct the time the employee would have spent commuting to his or her regular work location.

Travel that is all in a day's work. Time spent traveling to and from different worksites during the day is work time and must be paid.

Travel away from home. When travel requires an overnight stay, any time traveling as a passenger that falls within the employee's normal work hours is compensable, regardless of what day of the week the travel takes place. Time spent traveling to an airport terminal or train station is considered commute time and is not treated as hours worked, but the time spent waiting at the terminal until arrival at the destination is compensable when it falls during normal work hours.

For example, if Meg normally works Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and she is required to travel by plane on a Sunday for business in another state, her travel time on Sunday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. is compensable.

So, if Meg arrives at the airport on Sunday at 3 p.m. and at her destination at 8 p.m., the employer is required to pay her only from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., the hours that correspond with her normally scheduled work hours.

Alternatively, if Meg drives herself or others at the direction of the employer rather than traveling as a passenger, all the time spent driving is compensable work time, regardless of Meg's normal work hours.

Driving at the direction of the employer . When employees are required to drive themselves or others, all driving time is compensable. However, when an employee is traveling to an overnight stay and has the option to use public transportation (i.e., airplane, train, bus, etc.) but chooses to drive his or her own vehicle instead, the employer can either choose to pay for all time spent traveling or pay only the travel time that occurs during normal work hours, regardless of what day of the week the employee travels (CFR 785.40). If an employee volunteers to drive others in his or her own vehicle to the overnight stay, an employee's time could be unpaid for those travel hours outside the normal work hours.

Worked performed while traveling. An employee must be paid for any time he or she is performing work. This includes time spent working during travel as a passenger that would otherwise be non-compensable.

For example, Meg normally works Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. She arrives at the airport on Sunday at 3 p.m. and at her destination at 8 p.m. Generally, the employer is required to pay her only from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.; however, if Meg works on a presentation during her flight until 6:30 p.m., her employer would need to pay her from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Some states have travel-time laws that are more generous than the federal FLSA.  

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WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Revised July 2008

This fact sheet provides general information concerning what constitutes compensable time under the FLSA . The Act requires that employees must receive at least the minimum wage and may not be employed for more than 40 hours in a week without receiving at least one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for the overtime hours. The amount employees should receive cannot be determined without knowing the number of hours worked.

Definition of "Employ"

By statutory definition the term "employ" includes "to suffer or permit to work." The workweek ordinarily includes all time during which an employee is necessarily required to be on the employer's premises, on duty or at a prescribed work place. "Workday", in general, means the period between the time on any particular day when such employee commences his/her "principal activity" and the time on that day at which he/she ceases such principal activity or activities. The workday may therefore be longer than the employee's scheduled shift, hours, tour of duty, or production line time.

Application of Principles

Employees "Suffered or Permitted" to work: Work not requested but suffered or permitted to be performed is work time that must be paid for by the employer. For example, an employee may voluntarily continue to work at the end of the shift to finish an assigned task or to correct errors. The reason is immaterial. The hours are work time and are compensable.

Waiting Time:

Whether waiting time is hours worked under the Act depends upon the particular circumstances. Generally, the facts may show that the employee was engaged to wait (which is work time) or the facts may show that the employee was waiting to be engaged (which is not work time). For example, a secretary who reads a book while waiting for dictation or a fireman who plays checkers while waiting for an alarm is working during such periods of inactivity. These employees have been "engaged to wait."

On-Call Time:

An employee who is required to remain on call on the employer's premises is working while "on call." An employee who is required to remain on call at home, or who is allowed to leave a message where he/she can be reached, is not working (in most cases) while on call. Additional constraints on the employee's freedom could require this time to be compensated.

Rest and Meal Periods:

Rest periods of short duration, usually 20 minutes or less, are common in industry (and promote the efficiency of the employee) and are customarily paid for as working time. These short periods must be counted as hours worked. Unauthorized extensions of authorized work breaks need not be counted as hours worked when the employer has expressly and unambiguously communicated to the employee that the authorized break may only last for a specific length of time, that any extension of the break is contrary to the employer's rules, and any extension of the break will be punished. Bona fide meal periods (typically 30 minutes or more) generally need not be compensated as work time. The employee must be completely relieved from duty for the purpose of eating regular meals. The employee is not relieved if he/she is required to perform any duties, whether active or inactive, while eating.

Sleeping Time and Certain Other Activities:

An employee who is required to be on duty for less than 24 hours is working even though he/she is permitted to sleep or engage in other personal activities when not busy. An employee required to be on duty for 24 hours or more may agree with the employer to exclude from hours worked bona fide regularly scheduled sleeping periods of not more than 8 hours, provided adequate sleeping facilities are furnished by the employer and the employee can usually enjoy an uninterrupted night's sleep. No reduction is permitted unless at least 5 hours of sleep is taken.

Lectures, Meetings and Training Programs:

Attendance at lectures, meetings, training programs and similar activities need not be counted as working time only if four criteria are met, namely: it is outside normal hours, it is voluntary, not job related, and no other work is concurrently performed.

Travel Time:

The principles which apply in determining whether time spent in travel is compensable time depends upon the kind of travel involved.

Home to Work Travel:

An employee who travels from home before the regular workday and returns to his/her home at the end of the workday is engaged in ordinary home to work travel, which is not work time.

Home to Work on a Special One Day Assignment in Another City:

An employee who regularly works at a fixed location in one city is given a special one day assignment in another city and returns home the same day. The time spent in traveling to and returning from the other city is work time, except that the employer may deduct/not count that time the employee would normally spend commuting to the regular work site.

Travel That is All in a Day's Work:

Time spent by an employee in travel as part of their principal activity, such as travel from job site to job site during the workday, is work time and must be counted as hours worked.

Travel Away from Home Community:

Travel that keeps an employee away from home overnight is travel away from home. Travel away from home is clearly work time when it cuts across the employee's workday. The time is not only hours worked on regular working days during normal working hours but also during corresponding hours on nonworking days. As an enforcement policy the Division will not consider as work time that time spent in travel away from home outside of regular working hours as a passenger on an airplane, train, boat, bus, or automobile.

Typical Problems

Problems arise when employers fail to recognize and count certain hours worked as compensable hours. For example, an employee who remains at his/her desk while eating lunch and regularly answers the telephone and refers callers is working. This time must be counted and paid as compensable hours worked because the employee has not been completely relieved from duty.

Where to Obtain Additional Information

For additional information, visit our Wage and Hour Division Website: http://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd and/or call our toll-free information and helpline, available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your time zone, 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).

This publication is for general information and is not to be considered in the same light as official statements of position contained in the regulations.

The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.

When is travel time considered as hours worked?

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The following post does not create a lawyer-client relationship between Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices (or any of its lawyers) and the reader. It is still best for you to engage the services of a lawyer or you may directly contact and consult Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices to address your specific legal concerns, if there is any.

Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.

AT A GLANCE:

All the time during which an employee is required to be on duty or to be at the employer’s premises or to be at a prescribed workplace, and all the time during which an employee is suffered or permitted to work is considered as compensable work hours. (Section 3, Rule I, Book III, Omnibus Rules to Implement the Labor Code)

Travel time is considered as hours worked when: (1) employee is called to travel during emergency; (2) travel is done through a conveyance furnished by the employer; (3) travel is done under vexing and dangerous circumstances; and (4) travel is done under the supervision and control of the employer.

The Omnibus Rules to Implement the Labor Code provides that all the time during which an employee is required to be on duty or to be at the employer’s premises or to be at a prescribed workplace, and all the time during which an employee is suffered or permitted to work is considered as a compensable work hours. (Section 3, Rule I, Book III, Omnibus Rules to Implement the Labor Code)

Generally, travels from home before an employee’s regular workday and returns to his home at the end of the workday is not considered as hours worked.

However, travel time is considered as hours worked when: (1) employee is called to travel during emergency; (2) travel is done through a conveyance furnished by the employer; (3) travel is done under vexing and dangerous circumstances; and (4) travel is done under the supervision and control of the employer.

“Travel that is all in a day’s work”

Time spent by an employee travelling from one jobsite to another during the workday must be counted as hours worked.

When an employee is required to report at a meeting place to receive instructions or to perform other work there, the travel from the designated place to the workplace is part of the day’s work.

“Travel away from home”

Travel away from home refers to the travel that keeps an employee away from home overnight. It is considered work time when it cuts across the employee’s workday.

Such time spent traveling away from home is hours worked not only during regular working hours but also during the corresponding hours on non-working days.

Read also: When are power interruptions or brownouts considered as working hours?

Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries regarding taxation and taxpayer’s remedies, you may reach us at [email protected], or dial us at (02)7745-4391/0917-5772207.

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PE Travel and Hours

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I have heard that the average work hours per week at a growth equity fund are around 60 to 70. How many times per week do Managing Directors and Principals travel? (non-locally)

While I am not in PE , I can tell you that MDs and Principals travel quite frequently. I imagine it varies as in most jobs, but activities such as fund-raising can require a fair amount of leg work. Then there are the crazy one-off situations; For example, a family member of mine who is an MD had to spend 6 weeks in China setting up a new satellite office.

Not sure about growth equity in particular. On any given week, travel is probably about 1 or 2 day trips on average. I travel just as much as the principals and partners, so once a quarter we're attending board dinners/meetings. Fund-raising is probably the only time which the senior guys travel more than the junior guys.

3rd Year Analyst

I generally work 60 hours/week (rarely on the weekends)and my travel fluctuates wildly contingent upon the phase of the deal cycle. For example, last December I spent two weeks on the ground in Europe analyzing a potential retail acquisition. The trip included traveling to every single site location in the chain (150+) and a subsequent return trip two months later. We also have a Toronto office and I am up there several times a month (luckily the boss has a G5).

Obviously, hours and travel will depend on the size of the fund and the types of deals that your group pursues. For example, we focus primarily on companies (500M-3B EV range) that have strong real-estate platforms in the retail, real estate, lodging, gaming, marina, restaurant, homebuilding, luxury brand industry both domestically and abroad so I travel on an as needed basis.

PS Most of the traveling occurs during the roadshow /fundraising process...

Most of the bigger shops require similar (to slightly less) hours than banking (90+)

Does anyone (associate level) at a MM PE fund have any input on this topic? I'm curious how many days per week/month the junior guys will be traveling at a smaller fund. Traveling meaning either overnight for a day or two or even just a day trip here and there. Being in leveraged finance , I travel on occassion to bank/management meetings but I would have to believe that the Sponsor makes several more trips out to the Company during the due diligence process. Can anyone speak to this?

of the firm and the partners' tendency to bring along junior folk on trips.

pre-acquisition you definitely are on the ground quite a bit more than bankers and depending on the fund's style of portfolio management , it may find you on site more often than quarterly board meetings.

i will be applying for a summer analyst stint as a junior coming up at PE fund at one of the BBs

i just wanted to find out the kinds of skills that you learn in PE

is it modeling intensive? i know the mds, vps, and associates go traveling for fund raising but i'm more concerned about the analyst experience

can anyone fill me in?

I'm in MM PE . 2nd year associate. I travel, on average, twice a month. Usually for one night at a time, sometimes 2.

PE Firm Culture ( Originally Posted: 03/10/2014 )

Define "frattiness" please

MissMoneyPenny: Define "frattiness" please

I don't think I have ever encountered the word "fratty" employed with such a positive connotation...

Agreed. Lol.

I can attest that PE is substantially more stuffy than banking. There's not nearly as much horsing around and bullshitting. Everyone is all business all the time (atleast thats how it was at my shop and for most of my peers at other similar shops). It took some getting used to, banking was actually a lot of fun. PE not so much. I felt like much more of a grown up. The bullpen setting was definitely sorely missed. And from a purely personal standpoint, I like to be around the other people in my class, besides the camaraderie there's also a strong sense of competitiveness, which you don't really get in the PE environment.

Most PE firms are much more "waspy"

In banking, it's all "play money..."

sure, you're risking the bank's capital, but at the end of the day, that has little impact on you.

skin in the game

PE hours?? ( Originally Posted: 12/08/2007 )

I was wondering about the long hours in PE . I know that associates at KKR or Blackstone work as much as in ib , but I was wondering if it was also the case in Middle Market PE shops (let's say less than 3bn AuM).. Could you please share your experience?

Many thanks

I work at a firm slightly bigger than what you mentioned, but hours are generally 9AM to 8PM. It becomes somewhat hard to track because you travel much more and you have a lot more dinners. When entering competitive bid processes, hours can be longer, probably more like 10-midnight. Nothing like banking, though. Very few weekends, and some of the work can be done from home if you choose.

Though when you work with bankers it goes a lot higher. There's also "crunch time" when getting close to deal announcement/deal close when either buying or selling a company.

But on the whole hours at MM PE firms are significantly better than banking, though still higher than a "normal job."

GameTheory is correct - MM PE shops tend to have somewhat manageable hours. I'd also argue that the experience you get is more valuable in comparison to a bigger fund. You won't get to work deals featured on the front page of the WSJ, but you will take on a broader, more significant set of responsibilities.

If you're working for a PE firm, you obviously already have the financial skill set to do the job. In order to move up the ladder and be ultimately successful in PE , you need solid execution skills. That being said, the more exposure you have to that aspect of the business, the better. In my opinion, you can get more of that at a MM shop. Just my two cents.

What exactly is "execution" I've heard that thrown around a lot

Thanks for your answers! I was also wondering about the classic evolution when you enter PE after 2/3 years as an ib analyst. I know it's really tough-some will say impossible but you can still dream..- to become a partner because the current partners are not willing to give you a piece of their carry... Could you please share your experience? Usually how long dos it take to move from associate to Principal to Director...to partner?? Many thanks

execution, in the simplest sense, means tangibly getting the deal done. this can encompass a lot of things (negotiation with mgmt, lining up lenders, legal issues, etc.)

as far as a track time line, it really depends on the fund itself and how well you perform. I'm sure any firm would consider adding a partner if he/she was bringing enough to the table

PE Travel ( Originally Posted: 10/18/2013 )

How much travel can you expect at a top firm like Crestview, Lindsay Goldberg or MatlinPatterson? Is the travel mostly visits to company's facilities? How much of the travel is with senior management and done by private jet versus juniors traveling on their own on commercial?

Is there ever travel on private jets? News to me.

Travel mostly for management meetings and being present for site visits by accountants/consultants. Travel on private jet is not unheard of when senior people own/charter them.

It really depends on a number of factors such as how operationally involved is your shop with your portfolio companies, where your portfolio companies and/or potential acquisition targets are located, do you focus solely on domestic targets, what level you are at, etc.

I would say that I travel about 15-20% of the time depending on where we are in the deal cycle (i.e. are we doing any on the ground pre-acquisition due diligence like visiting facilities and attending management meetings, are we meeting with our portfolio company senior level executives for meetings, industry events, etc.). We flew private the majority of the time due to fractional ownership of a jet.

Thanks for the info. What do you guys hope to really gain from facilities visits? As PE analysts and not operators, what exactly do you expect to uncover that you would be able to recognize, or do you go with consultants/specialists?

basementflat02: Thanks for the info. What do you guys hope to really gain from facilities visits? As PE analysts and not operators, what exactly do you expect to uncover that you would be able to recognize, or do you go with consultants/specialists?

Depends on the industry to a certain extent, but lets call a spade a spade - you're checking the box to prepare a diligence defense.

Is some Italian suit wearing HBS-educated finance guy qualified to look at some factory line and make sure everything is up to code? Hell no. You go so that you can say you went and did your best to make sure that the thing at least exists. So if you ever get defrauded and end up in front of a grand jury you can make the argument that you weren't negligent.

Depending on the trade meeting management matters as well sometimes.

As far as private jets, yeah it happens. People tey to use commercial as much as possible in my firm but sometimes there's just no flight. They're not that expensive in the context of a big deal. They're not that cool either.

Yes, in banking the facility visits are definitely much more superficial and done for the sake of saying you did it. But my experience in PE was not in-line with what's described by nycbandar. You're putting hundreds of millions of dollars into something, you're not going to do it sight unseen. Would you buy an apartment without having seen it in person? Now multiply that risk by a thousand and add the fact that its not your money and you have to answer for what you did with it.

The visits have several purposes, the biggest IMO is because walking through these facilities and seeing the actual guts of the operation gives you a much better understanding of the business. You see the production line. You see the delivery of raw material being unloaded in the loading dock. You see the factory workers inspecting production as its being pumped out of the machines. You see the rejection bin being shredded into scrap. Its fairly insightful, if you ask me. You get an appreciation for the dynamics and scale and leverage and labor and value chain.

As junkbondswap mentioned, you also get a view of the business that you're not going to get from inside your midtown office, which if you're in the business long enough, has a lot of value. For example, we'd go on site visits and many of the more senior people would come up with some ridiculous insights that I wasn't even close to seeing... based on their experience with portfolio companies or whatever... like the fact that the fleet of older Italian machines are rock solid and the 20 newer machines are much less reliable. Most likely the current sponsor owner saw that they were nearing the end of their investment and tightened the screws on management's capex spend but still wanted to position the company for sale by showing that there's significant capacity headroom to grow into Management's growth projections without having to invest heavily in capex. And so the partner realized the run rate capacity is probably lower than presented by management since 2-4 of the 20 or so newer machines will be down at any given moment and consequently the maintenance capex will likely be higher than presented... and if we want to hit the production figures in our plan we need to either upgrade the equipment or spend more capex to have a few more machines in the production line. That's not something you're going to be able to glean from your Bain report or from the dataroom.

Like most things in this world, you get what you put into it. If you think you have nothing to learn from something, you're not going to learn much.

Its also really fucking cool to see this stuff.

Marcus_Halberstram: Yes, in banking the facility visits are definitely much more superficial and done for the sake of saying you did it. But my experience in PE was not in-line with what's described by nycbandar. You're putting hundreds of millions of dollars into something, you're not going to do it sight unseen. Would you buy an apartment without having seen it in person? Now multiply that risk by a thousand and add the fact that its not your money and you have to answer for what you did with it. The visits have several purposes, the biggest IMO is because walking through these facilities and seeing the actual guts of the operation gives you a much better understanding of the business. You see the production line. You see the delivery of raw material being unloaded in the loading dock. You see the factory workers inspecting production as its being pumped out of the machines. You see the rejection bin being shredded into scrap. Its fairly insightful, if you ask me. You get an appreciation for the dynamics and scale and leverage and labor and value chain. As junkbondswap mentioned, you also get a view of the business that you're not going to get from inside your midtown office, which if you're in the business long enough, has a lot of value. For example, we'd go on site visits and many of the more senior people would come up with some ridiculous insights that I wasn't even close to seeing... based on their experience with portfolio companies or whatever... like the fact that the fleet of older Italian machines are rock solid and the 20 newer machines are much less reliable. Most likely the current sponsor owner saw that they were nearing the end of their investment and tightened the screws on management's capex spend but still wanted to position the company for sale by showing that there's significant capacity headroom to grow into Management's growth projections without having to invest heavily in capex. And so the partner realized the run rate capacity is probably lower than presented by management since 2-4 of the 20 or so newer machines will be down at any given moment and consequently the maintenance capex will likely be higher than presented... and if we want to hit the production figures in our plan we need to either upgrade the equipment or spend more capex to have a few more machines in the production line. That's not something you're going to be able to glean from your Bain report or from the dataroom. Like most things in this world, you get what you put into it. If you think you have nothing to learn from something, you're not going to learn much. Its also really fucking cool to see this stuff.

You're making a serious run for commenter-of-the-year, dude.

PE Hours ( Originally Posted: 11/13/2009 )

What are the hours like in Private Equity? I know that the megafunds work their associates like dogs, but are there good PE shops that also have reasonable work schedules?

yes, the mm ones

What are some examples of good MM PE shops?

The bible...

http://www.abraaj.com/mediacenter/Files/PEI_300_2009_Executive_Summary…

awesome post, 4u2bnvs. can someone comment on lifestyle and hours at some of those top firms?

It really varies and it will be hard to get a definitive answer. Further, it will be truly dependent on your own skill set and how quickly you work. I have a friend who is a former consultant than is now at a sizable fund. When he first started out, he was working IBD-like hours because he had to figure out how to run a model on top of the other work he was responsible for. A year later, his hours are more similar to my own - 9/10 - 9/10/11. A lot of this will be dependent on the culture of the firm, how deals are sourced, and what you're working on. My group is part of a larger bank so I sometimes feel there is still a culture of face time, but its nothing like when I was in IBD . I know this sounds corny - or maybe mean - but if your primary concern is hours, perhaps you should consider another industry. Its nice to have a life-work balance but at this age, you probably should be focused more on learning.

Insight on Travel as a PE Analyst ( Originally Posted: 05/01/2013 )

Did a search and couldn't find much insight on travel from a PE analyst perspective.

Any knowledge as to % of time spent out of the office and usually what a trip to go meet with a prospective investment/management team entails?

This can be a very subjective.

If I had to tag a figure, I'd say about 7% - 10%, although my colleages (associates and above) travel more. Our trips entails more on-site due diligence visits or supporting the portfolio company through advisory, etc. We have the bargaining power to get potential portfolio partners to come into our office if we need to negotiate.

yeah not much traveling unless for management meetings or on-site due diligence.

i would echo the above statements, especially at the analyst level

I travel one week a month.

As a Pre-MBA associate, I generally traveled quarterly for board meetings and then as needed for management visits / portfolio monitoring. I've since changed PE shops where my current firm has a tendency to travel less (board meetings sometimes held at our offices, more portfolio management done remotely, consolidate trips so they are back-to-back). At my current firm, I travel approximately 25-50% more than the pre-MBA associates. Most of the increase is due to marketing trips, industry conferences, and "special portfolio company stuff" where the junior guy isn't brought along (example: interviewing new executives in another city).

I'm a bit of a data nerd when it comes to travel. I've tracked every day that I've traveled since I started in PE four years ago. Here is some data to back things up. Note this is just one data point and that experiences can vary widely even within the same PE shop. Note that personal days include weekends where I was out of town. I was in a relationship during my first two years and single in my second two years, which drove the big difference in personal travel.

Two years in pre-MBA role: Personal Travel Days: 47 (6.4%) Work Travel Days: 111 (15.2%)

Two years in post-MBA role: Personal Travel Days: 117 (16.0%) Work Travel Days: 103 (14.1%)

PE Analyst Hours ( Originally Posted: 02/07/2009 )

Could anyone tell me the hours for a typical PE analyst (right out of undergrad). I have a final round interview next week for a summer internship, but I'd like to know what I am getting into. I could handle 16 hour days if I got at least a Sunday off.

Are weekends part of the routine? I've been avoiding the IB side because of the weekends/hours (and have been focusing on S&T), but working for a PE firm seems to open many doors.

Depends entirely on the firm. I interviewed with firms that work their post-banking analysts 100 hours a week. The firm I'm going to work for works about 60 hours a week, with no weekends. If you share the name, someone here may know for sure.

~~~~~~~~~~~ CompBanker

how is one more day going to put you over the edge. Just doesn't make sense to me. Anyways good luck!

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Moscow Metro Tour

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Description

Moscow metro private tours.

• 2-hour tour $87:  10 Must-See Moscow Metro stations with hotel pick-up and drop-off
• 3-hour tour $137:  20 Must-See Moscow Metro stations with Russian lunch in beautifully-decorated Metro Diner + hotel pick-up and drop off. 
• Metro pass is included in the price of both tours.

Highlight of Metro Tour

• Visit 10 must-see stations of Moscow metro on 2-hr tour and 20 Metro stations on 3-hr tour, including grand Komsomolskaya station with its distinctive Baroque décor, aristocratic Mayakovskaya station with Soviet mosaics, legendary Revolution Square station with 72 bronze sculptures and more!
• Explore Museum of Moscow Metro and learn a ton of technical and historical facts;
• Listen to the secrets about the Metro-2, a secret line supposedly used by the government and KGB;
• Experience a selection of most striking features of Moscow Metro hidden from most tourists and even locals;
• Discover the underground treasure of Russian Soviet past – from mosaics to bronzes, paintings, marble arches, stained glass and even paleontological elements;
• Learn fun stories and myths about Coffee Ring, Zodiac signs of Moscow Metro and more;
• Admire Soviet-era architecture of pre- and post- World War II perious;
• Enjoy panoramic views of Sparrow Hills from Luzhniki Metro Bridge – MetroMost, the only station of Moscow Metro located over water and the highest station above ground level;
• If lucky, catch a unique «Aquarelle Train» – a wheeled picture gallery, brightly painted with images of peony, chrysanthemums, daisies, sunflowers and each car unit is unique;
• Become an expert at navigating the legendary Moscow Metro system;
• Have fun time with a very friendly local;
• + Atmospheric Metro lunch in Moscow’s the only Metro Diner (included in a 3-hr tour)

Hotel Pick-up

Metro stations:.

Komsomolskaya

Novoslobodskaya

Prospekt Mira

Belorusskaya

Mayakovskaya

Novokuznetskaya

Revolution Square

Sparrow Hills

+ for 3-hour tour

Victory Park

Slavic Boulevard

Vystavochnaya

Dostoevskaya

Elektrozavodskaya

Partizanskaya

Museum of Moscow Metro

• Drop-off  at your hotel, Novodevichy Convent, Sparrow Hills or any place you wish
• + Russian lunch  in Metro Diner with artistic metro-style interior for 3-hour tour

Fun facts from our Moscow Metro Tours:

From the very first days of its existence, the Moscow Metro was the object of civil defense, used as a bomb shelter, and designed as a defense for a possible attack on the Soviet Union.

At a depth of 50 to 120 meters lies the second, the coded system of Metro-2 of Moscow subway, which is equipped with everything you need, from food storage to the nuclear button.

According to some sources, the total length of Metro-2 reaches over 150 kilometers.

The Museum was opened on Sportivnaya metro station on November 6, 1967. It features the most interesting models of trains and stations.

Coffee Ring

The first scheme of Moscow Metro looked like a bunch of separate lines. Listen to a myth about Joseph Stalin and the main brown line of Moscow Metro.

Zodiac Metro

According to some astrologers, each of the 12 stops of the Moscow Ring Line corresponds to a particular sign of the zodiac and divides the city into astrological sector.

Astrologers believe that being in a particular zadiac sector of Moscow for a long time, you attract certain energy and events into your life.

Paleontological finds 

Red marble walls of some of the Metro stations hide in themselves petrified inhabitants of ancient seas. Try and find some!

• Every day each car in  Moscow metro passes  more than 600 km, which is the distance from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
• Moscow subway system is the  5th in the intensity  of use (after the subways of Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai).
• The interval in the movement of trains in rush hour is  90 seconds .

What you get:

• + A friend in Moscow.
• + Private & customized Moscow tour.
• + An exciting pastime, not just boring history lessons.
• + An authentic experience of local life.
• + Flexibility during the walking tour: changes can be made at any time to suit individual preferences.
• + Amazing deals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the very best cafes & restaurants. Discounts on weekdays (Mon-Fri).
• + A photo session amongst spectacular Moscow scenery that can be treasured for a lifetime.
• + Good value for souvenirs, taxis, and hotels.
• + Expert advice on what to do, where to go, and how to make the most of your time in Moscow.

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• Articles   >

The Moscow Metro Museum of Art: 10 Must-See Stations

There are few times one can claim having been on the subway all afternoon and loving it, but the Moscow Metro provides just that opportunity.  While many cities boast famous public transport systems—New York’s subway, London’s underground, San Salvador’s chicken buses—few warrant hours of exploration.  Moscow is different: Take one ride on the Metro, and you’ll find out that this network of railways can be so much more than point A to B drudgery.

The Metro began operating in 1935 with just thirteen stations, covering less than seven miles, but it has since grown into the world’s third busiest transit system ( Tokyo is first ), spanning about 200 miles and offering over 180 stops along the way.  The construction of the Metro began under Joseph Stalin’s command, and being one of the USSR’s most ambitious building projects, the iron-fisted leader instructed designers to create a place full of svet (radiance) and svetloe budushchee (a radiant future), a palace for the people and a tribute to the Mother nation.

Consequently, the Metro is among the most memorable attractions in Moscow.  The stations provide a unique collection of public art, comparable to anything the city’s galleries have to offer and providing a sense of the Soviet era, which is absent from the State National History Museum.  Even better, touring the Metro delivers palpable, experiential moments, which many of us don’t get standing in front of painting or a case of coins.

Though tours are available , discovering the Moscow Metro on your own provides a much more comprehensive, truer experience, something much less sterile than following a guide.  What better place is there to see the “real” Moscow than on mass transit: A few hours will expose you to characters and caricatures you’ll be hard-pressed to find dining near the Bolshoi Theater.  You become part of the attraction, hear it in the screech of the train, feel it as hurried commuters brush by: The Metro sucks you beneath the city and churns you into the mix.

With the recommendations of our born-and-bred Muscovite students, my wife Emma and I have just taken a self-guided tour of what some locals consider the top ten stations of the Moscow Metro. What most satisfied me about our Metro tour was the sense of adventure .  I loved following our route on the maps of the wagon walls as we circled the city, plotting out the course to the subsequent stops; having the weird sensation of being underground for nearly four hours; and discovering the next cavern of treasures, playing Indiana Jones for the afternoon, piecing together fragments of Russia’s mysterious history.  It’s the ultimate interactive museum.

Top Ten Stations (In order of appearance)

Kievskaya station.

Kievskaya Station went public in March of 1937, the rails between it and Park Kultury Station being the first to cross the Moscow River.  Kievskaya is full of mosaics depicting aristocratic scenes of Russian life, with great cameo appearances by Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin.  Each work has a Cyrillic title/explanation etched in the marble beneath it; however, if your Russian is rusty, you can just appreciate seeing familiar revolutionary dates like 1905 ( the Russian Revolution ) and 1917 ( the October Revolution ).

Mayakovskaya Station

Mayakovskaya Station ranks in my top three most notable Metro stations. Mayakovskaya just feels right, done Art Deco but no sense of gaudiness or pretention.  The arches are adorned with rounded chrome piping and create feeling of being in a jukebox, but the roof’s expansive mosaics of the sky are the real showstopper.  Subjects cleverly range from looking up at a high jumper, workers atop a building, spires of Orthodox cathedrals, to nimble aircraft humming by, a fleet of prop planes spelling out CCCP in the bluest of skies.

Novoslobodskaya Station

Novoslobodskaya is the Metro’s unique stained glass station.  Each column has its own distinctive panels of colorful glass, most of them with a floral theme, some of them capturing the odd sailor, musician, artist, gardener, or stenographer in action.  The glass is framed in Art Deco metalwork, and there is the lovely aspect of discovering panels in the less frequented haunches of the hall (on the trackside, between the incoming staircases).  Novosblod is, I’ve been told, the favorite amongst out-of-town visitors.

Komsomolskaya Station

Komsomolskaya Station is one of palatial grandeur.  It seems both magnificent and obligatory, like the presidential palace of a colonial city.  The yellow ceiling has leafy, white concrete garland and a series of golden military mosaics accenting the tile mosaics of glorified Russian life.  Switching lines here, the hallway has an Alice-in-Wonderland feel, impossibly long with decorative tile walls, culminating in a very old station left in a remarkable state of disrepair, offering a really tangible glimpse behind the palace walls.

Dostoevskaya Station

Dostoevskaya is a tribute to the late, great hero of Russian literature .  The station at first glance seems bare and unimpressive, a stark marble platform without a whiff of reassembled chips of tile.  However, two columns have eerie stone inlay collages of scenes from Dostoevsky’s work, including The Idiot , The Brothers Karamazov , and Crime and Punishment.   Then, standing at the center of the platform, the marble creates a kaleidoscope of reflections.  At the entrance, there is a large, inlay portrait of the author.

Chkalovskaya Station

Chkalovskaya does space Art Deco style (yet again).  Chrome borders all.  Passageways with curvy overhangs create the illusion of walking through the belly of a chic, new-age spacecraft.  There are two (kos)mosaics, one at each end, with planetary subjects.  Transferring here brings you above ground, where some rather elaborate metalwork is on display.  By name similarity only, I’d expected Komsolskaya Station to deliver some kosmonaut décor; instead, it was Chkalovskaya that took us up to the space station.

Elektrozavodskaya Station

Elektrozavodskaya is full of marble reliefs of workers, men and women, laboring through the different stages of industry.  The superhuman figures are round with muscles, Hollywood fit, and seemingly undeterred by each Herculean task they respectively perform.  The station is chocked with brass, from hammer and sickle light fixtures to beautiful, angular framework up the innards of the columns.  The station’s art pieces are less clever or extravagant than others, but identifying the different stages of industry is entertaining.

Baumanskaya Statio

Baumanskaya Station is the only stop that wasn’t suggested by the students.  Pulling in, the network of statues was just too enticing: Out of half-circle depressions in the platform’s columns, the USSR’s proud and powerful labor force again flaunts its success.  Pilots, blacksmiths, politicians, and artists have all congregated, posing amongst more Art Deco framing.  At the far end, a massive Soviet flag dons the face of Lenin and banners for ’05, ’17, and ‘45.  Standing in front of the flag, you can play with the echoing roof.

Ploshchad Revolutsii Station

Novokuznetskaya Station

Novokuznetskaya Station finishes off this tour, more or less, where it started: beautiful mosaics.  This station recalls the skyward-facing pieces from Mayakovskaya (Station #2), only with a little larger pictures in a more cramped, very trafficked area.  Due to a line of street lamps in the center of the platform, it has the atmosphere of a bustling market.  The more inventive sky scenes include a man on a ladder, women picking fruit, and a tank-dozer being craned in.  The station’s also has a handsome black-and-white stone mural.

Here is a map and a brief description of our route:

Start at (1)Kievskaya on the “ring line” (look for the squares at the bottom of the platform signs to help you navigate—the ring line is #5, brown line) and go north to Belorusskaya, make a quick switch to the Dark Green/#2 line, and go south one stop to (2)Mayakovskaya.  Backtrack to the ring line—Brown/#5—and continue north, getting off at (3)Novosblodskaya and (4)Komsolskaya.  At Komsolskaya Station, transfer to the Red/#1 line, go south for two stops to Chistye Prudy, and get on the Light Green/#10 line going north.  Take a look at (5)Dostoevskaya Station on the northern segment of Light Green/#10 line then change directions and head south to (6)Chkalovskaya, which offers a transfer to the Dark Blue/#3 line, going west, away from the city center.  Have a look (7)Elektroskaya Station before backtracking into the center of Moscow, stopping off at (8)Baumskaya, getting off the Dark Blue/#3 line at (9)Ploschad Revolyutsii.  Change to the Dark Green/#2 line and go south one stop to see (10)Novokuznetskaya Station.

Check out our new Moscow Indie Travel Guide , book a flight to Moscow and read 10 Bars with Views Worth Blowing the Budget For

Jonathon Engels, formerly a patron saint of misadventure, has been stumbling his way across cultural borders since 2005 and is currently volunteering in the mountains outside of Antigua, Guatemala.  For more of his work, visit his website and blog .

Photo credits:   SergeyRod , all others courtesy of the author and may not be used without permission